


Finding Something Hopeful

by AnHeiressofaSOLDIER



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Multi, Sven and Olaf are also briefly here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-10 18:30:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4402649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnHeiressofaSOLDIER/pseuds/AnHeiressofaSOLDIER
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One night, when Elsa sneaks out into the castle courtyard-to have a free moment for herself-she finds something odd: a hint that maybe someone out there has powers like she does. A story dealing with some things that could've been happening behind the scenes of the movie: A fanfiction that tries its best to stay canon, while dealing with events pre-film and even a few post.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finding Something Hopeful

**Right after Anna's Memory Was Altered**

"Ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba," said the baby princess, Anna, as she regarded Elsa over her cereal box.

Shaking her head slightly, at her sister's weird way of getting her attention in the brief moments they were in the kitchen together, Elsa hurriedly asked, "What, Anna?" as she thought-not for the first time-that maybe it'd be best if she ate late now, as to not accidentally hurt her... energetic little sister. "Are you thinking of the character, Babs, from that play? Or-"

At those words spoken by Elsa, Anna's little face scrunched up in deep concentration, or something like it.

And as Elsa watched her sister fearfully-snow just beginning to freeze the gloves that she now held onto for the life of her-she worried that she might have to go get their parents for help. What if Anna was having a seizure?!

Or even worse: what if the ice magic she was unearthing was somehow hurting her sister, Elsa asked herself hatefully?

She'd all ready probably spent  _way_  too much time with the young girl, so was it completely unreasonable to think that maybe she could have gotten the stuff into her bloodstream? Elsa didn't think so.

And she was so, _so_  fearful for her little sister's sake that that was the case. And yet for all of her powers, Elsa found that she was at a loss on what to do. She could only look at her sister, and her chocolate cereal, worriedly...

Until Anna puffed her cheeks out some slightly, slapped her hands over them, and muttered whilst looking at her feet-something that Elsa thought only a kid could get away with doing, from all that she'd learned in her proprietary class-"I just thought tha' maybe you'd talk better thru-what did Miss Ay call it again? Flipperish?-since ya don't seem to know English anymore!"

In that instance, a long range of emotions ended up traversing through the ice princess' system:

The first one was confusion at how her youngest sibling acted. And the second feeling was awe, that Anna was smart enough to notice something wrong and therefore wanted to correct it at such a young age.

Elsa did feel a bit incredulous, too, that her little sister thought her such a fool as to forget their own spoken tongue, but she let it go.

After that day, for the most part, things went back to the way they had been for Elsa and Anna-back to before Elsa had braved trying to get her own breakfast, even with her cursed powers.

So once again, the siblings were not talking to each other, but one thing  _did_  change the slightest bit:

For a while, Elsa felt much more happier and hopeful than she had in a long time.

She smiled.

...

**Some Years Later (Still before the Movie)**

Though this was not something Elsa told anybody, and she worked her hardest to make sure no one in the castle would ever know it; she would often sneak out into the courtyard at night and wander a little bit.

After all, not even she-with her strong sense of willpower and everything-could stay cooked up in her room forever.

Elsa loathed herself for the ventures she made, of course (after all, what if a pedestrian just happened to be passing close to the outskirts of the castle and she accidentally froze them?), but she found she could do nothing else.

Casting the trees and environment in snow wasn't something she wanted to do, either, but she kept up her indulgence all the same.

Still... Elsa would have been lying, she knew-as she pulled her pink jacket tighter about her for moral support, and tried her best to keep a weather eye on the horizon-if she said she wasn't hoping for some sort of miracle solution to occur.

Like, couldn't there have at least been a  _chance_ that the spring could make her powers more manageable, Elsa wondered?

If there were, maybe she'd then even be able to find a way to hate her own powers less. But if it  _was_  possible that the near-summer air could make her magic slacken, it sure wasn't showing it.

She really was just fooling herself with all of this, and holding onto false hope, the albino knew. But as she made her way to a familiar bench, and greedily sat down on it-the first stone she'd felt against her skin in years-she didn't know just what else she was supposed to do.

She wasn't a saint or selfless in the slightest-despite what kind of front she tried to put up for her father's especially-and as horrifying as it was to admit to herself, Elsa realized, just as she fingered a stray, pink blossom that had fallen to the ground beside her, that deceiving herself was the only way she could live and keep up her duty of protecting the ones she loved from herself.

...But she didn't want to be thinking about this just now. She wanted to instead focus on this rare chance where she could be temporarily free, and even enjoy herself some.

So she tried doing just that-peering up at the stars in the sky, on her gray and decidedly small bench-and she kicked her feet into the air, and pretended having a fake conversation with someone... most likely Anna.

And just as a few, stray birds swooped by, Elsa felt the wind swarm downward all around her: almost as if it wanted to take  _her_  away-and the leaf that had found itself located on the princess' index finger, went on a magical adventure through the currents-and an intruder made its presence known.

If she was sizing up the situation correctly-and Elsa was pretty sure that she was, as she'd spent years of only being able to discreetly watch people-it looked as though a strange man, in a black trench coat, was standing at the front of the garden, watching her intently.

Maybe... maybe it was actually a trick of the light, and there was no one really there at all, Elsa reasoned with herself.

But the more she tried to stare the thing down-feeling oddly safe throughout-the more Elsa thought she'd seen a similar thing before.

And at that ludicrous and worrying thought, Elsa realized that she really could've been screaming or running away:

Both of those sounded like viable options at the moment, even if there was a scared and darker part of Elsa that wanted to throw ice at the mysterious person.

However... the princess got the sense that if she did any of those things, the person would expect it and counter it-he, or perhaps it was a she, seemed to be holding something between three fingers, it looked like-so Elsa simply got to her feet and defiantly held her ground.

And surprising even herself, the lady spoke to someone in what truly must have been the first time in years (as usually, it was only ever her parents she had that luxury with anymore... or her servants, when asking what sort of food she wanted for the day slipped under her door. She always gave them the same answer):

"Who are you?" Elsa's abnormal guest didn't answer the query right away; it did end up jostling the slight bit of sharp wind they were having, though-making the bottom of its cloak cascade all around it.

That, at least, gave Elsa some comfort: this person was just as human and vulnerable as she herself was-maybe even moreso-since it looked like they could be greatly affected by their own magic (and this was a very good thing, for who knew? Maybe if the coated person did end up being malevolent, they might end up accidentally hurting themselves with their own power?).

Then, as the black ensemble was jostled once again, Elsa noted what looked like-insanely enough-a ball of energy just where its feet were supposed to be.

And so for the first time that night, Elsa felt a bit of terror within her-wondering what kind of terrible concoction she'd just come across, and just what it could all mean.

But then again... others could've possibly said the same about her, couldn't they? That was the purpose of all the "conceal, don't feel" stuff, wasn't it?

And just when Elsa was beginning to think that all hope was lost for herself-and that maybe she should run, use her powers, and scream-the strange creature, literally, came flying right past her in an alarming speed, whispered one syllable into the girl's ear, and dropped what looked like an old, orange fall leaf into her hand.

The thing then continued upwards-over some strange streamer her parents must have had set-up, like a kite might have-and disappeared completely from Elsa's sight.

And though the girl did end up having some nightmares that night, when she finally  _did_ end up going to sleep, she not once stopped thinking of the two clues that had been given to her.

...

**Right before the Death of Elsa and Anna's Parents**

The next day, Elsa was very much acting like the "eager beaver" that Anna probably would have accused her of being.

She awoke early, went to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast for herself-cooking was another thing Elsa had learnt how to do long ago, for when she was sick of the thin food that could only be pushed through her door, and therefore wanted to cook herself something better when everyone else was away-and then headed for the library.

It was hard for the crown-princess to sneak into the place, as she'd very rarely attempted it before-not even for her architecture books that she loved so much-in reasoning that the insomniac scholars were probably within it all hours of the day.

But... one of the dreams Elsa had the night before, and thankfully not one of the ones that had been fit with freight, had given her inspiration that maybe there was someone else out there like her.

Elsa was quite positive now that what she'd seen the night before had had to have been some sort of autumn magic.

Nothing like her own magic, however-as Elsa greatly doubted she could make a puppet like that with her own abilities, even if her uncontrollable emotions were giving life to it-but still: the prospect that she might not be alone in the world, after all, gave Elsa the kind of hope she hadn't found in years.

Now she was determined to find the person who had animated that cloak, and demand to know all they knew about the trolls' magic, how one was even born with powers, and all kinds of outlandish thoughts.

And so chewing on her granola bar with a purpose, Elsa completely missed it when Anna came dancing into the library-toting a hideous purple wig, and acting like she was going to make some glorious creation out of it.

"Oh, Elsa!" Anna exclaimed, draping a hand over her heart in shock, while Elsa-guiltily-let her food fall down off the table in her shock, as she waved reluctantly to her sister.

She'd gotten too wrapped up in the book she was now perusing, apparently. And she... she really should have been making some sort of excuse to get away from Anna now, Elsa knew, as she didn't want her powers to freeze her again or something...

And yet, Elsa found that she wasn't as worried about such an occurrence as she could've been: the person with the fall powers had risen her spirits, and now even made her think that maybe her powers weren't as dangerous as she had initially thought; maybe she could learn how to control them...

She wouldn't test that theory unless she had actual proof, though.

So going along with that safe idea, Elsa was about to try and make her leave-and to get as far away from Anna as she possibly could-but apparently the young princess wasn't having any of that.

Instead, she whomped another massive book onto Elsa's table-one of the only novels that the eldest had actually read in the past-and smiled at Elsa with pleading eyes, as she cast her elbows onto the wooden table. "Elsa... please tell me you think I can make a pretty dress out of the purple spikes of this wig... kind of like how a certain heroine made pretty clothes out of a green curtain!"

"Fine, then, Anna: Yes, I think you  _can_  make a pretty dress out of this bizarre thing you must have found in our parents' dresser... Or some nice under garments, at the very least."

To be honest, Elsa didn't know  _why_  she was humoring Anna's oddness in the slightest. It was too dangerous for them to even be  _around_ each other, so she definitely shouldn't have been sitting here and having a conversation with her sister, and yet...

Here they were: having a discussion about the many, wacky adventures of one Miss Scarlett O'hara.

"Aha! So you  _have_  read it!" Anna exclaimed suddenly, accusingly and gleefully, as she put her hands on her hips and got right up to Elsa's face.

And at first, Elsa was very confused about just what Anna was on about...

Until she remembered how all the books she'd checked out in the past were all school subject matters, whereas most of Anna's were always works of fiction.

Apparently Anna had figured that out somehow, and was now offended that her sister didn't seem to like romance novels?

Sighing gravely, Elsa argued back, "I never said that I don't like a good story, Anna. But one of us should at least take our studies seriously, you know," the eldest sister said coyly, surprising even  _herself_ , before even  _further_  doing so by pressing, "Anna? If you have a moment... Do you think maybe I could talk to you about some things that are fundamentally autumn?"

"Autumn?" Anna choked back, bored and deadpan, as she pulled up a green chair to sit in, and slouched in it with much effort. She then looked at Elsa-who must have been like a foreign person to her at this point, Elsa thought sadly-with warring eyes. "What do you have to say to me about autumn, of all things?"

Despite her efforts to keep it from happening, Elsa's face lit up magnificently just at the thought of it all.

No doubt to Anna she probably looked as though she had a crush on someone or something, even, but at the moment Elsa really couldn't care less.

She did make sure to not reach across the table and grab Anna's own hand, though: even if she did want that moral support.

Elsa was just... so  _happy_  to be having a conversation with her sister, and even possibly looking for someone with powers, too. In every way, it was almost even a dream come true!

"I don't know, Anna," Elsa said, schooling her expression and words, and acting very much like the queen she would eventually have to be. "But I guess I just find it all interesting? We don't really have long falls in Arendelle, do we? Or even... winters for that matter," and here Elsa would have to pray that the trolls' magic would stay in affect, lest she tip Anna off to her powers by the subject matter here.

Twirling a strand of hair around her finger-still appearing to feel bored, though a small smile had worked its way onto the younger girl's face for a reason that Elsa didn't know now-Anna replied, "Yeah. I mean, I guess you're right. We mostly have long springs and summers in Arendelle, which... I've always really preferred, honestly, but I guess I can see why you're so interested in the other seasons, then."

Elsa tried to not let her face fall, at Anna's sudden admission about not liking the cold seasons.

She... she really  _should've_  known, given Anna's personality and all, but there had still been a small part of the future queen who had hoped that Anna subconsciously remembered their fun moments together as children. How she had hoped...

And in some ways, it really did seem that the sister Elsa had known and loved as a child had drifted away-a depressing and bitter thought, indeed-but as it had saved her life, Elsa knew that she really should have been feeling grateful for it all. And she was... mostly.

"Well..." Anna began in a tone that seemed to hint she was going to amend her previous statement, as she reclined in her chair-dangerously, Elsa might add, as it was creaking ever something fierce. "It's not so much I dislike those times. Really, I like most anything, as... Well, I  _hope_  you know that, Elsa."

And suddenly, Anna's voice had changed into a suspicious, almost angry sounding one. And not for the first time, the blonde had to wonder if Anna hated being separated from her, just as much as she felt that same way. If only she could tell her the truth, Elsa thought miserably!

"But yeah: I think I would enjoy those times a lot more if we actually got to experience them some. The way things are now, I hardly even know what winter and autumn are  _supposed_ to be like, y'know?"

And though Anna had posed it as a question, it didn't seem that she really wanted-or expected-a reply.

Instead, she began trying to press some of the strands of the wig she had together, no doubt trying to think of a way to make it into an amazing bodice or something.

And hit with a sudden desperation, in knowing that she was once again losing Anna-and maybe this time in the worst way imaginable: Anna was ignoring her, even after  _everything_ -Elsa spluttered out, not very lady-like at all, "You're an autumn, Anna! Did you know that?"

Well, that served to get her sister's attention, at least.

The redhead paused in her work, blinked up at Elsa owlishly, and seemed confused beyond all measure: "What do you- Oh! You mean what colors apparently look good on me, right? Mom was telling me about that before, but I don't know; I personally don't buy into all that. I'm going to wear whatever colors make me happy, and not always sport 'the ones that look the best on me', I think."

Elsa tried her best to grin back at Anna then, she really did.

But as soon as her sister's words had caught up with her, she'd ended up feeling very agitated.

She had  _meant_ , as Anna had guessed at, that colors like green-for instance-had really been made for her. But now... Now Elsa couldn't help thinking of the possibility of her sister as the mysterious ghost the night before: a hope that Anna had pretty much dashed by what she'd just said.

And it was dumb, Elsa knew, because Anna  _definitely_  didn't have any powers-and that was partly the reason for the whole mess they were still in-but the idea remained there for her all the same.

How great it would be, if Anna also had magic they could share together, Elsa decided...

But awful, too, because then they would both be a danger to their own people, and would even have to forfeit the throne, no doubt!

Ice... Ice was ending up where Elsa had her elbow resting on the table, she was realizing far too late!

The princess couldn't really even figure out how, as she'd thought her power only came from her hands, but she'd worry about the specifics later!

She needed to- she needed to somehow get rid of the evidence before Anna saw it, but how?!

"Anna, look over there! It seems Miss June is decorating the window with autumn-shaped leaves!"

"Where?!" Anna-bless the girl-in all her naïve glory, looked to where exactly where Elsa was pointing.

Meanwhile, the magical princess was trying her darndest to remove the mark she'd just left on the table. And she succeeded!

...Only to end up firing a blast in another direction, though, that instantly became a huge shard of ice looking much like a stalagmite on the floor.

Elsa sighed, and very much had to fight against the urge to bury her face in her arms and cry.

"I think I see what you were talking about, Elsa, but it was only the curtain flapping in strange ways, not Miss June posting up leaf cut-outs... Hey, hold on a second: since when has that crystal design been in here?!"

Though Anna definitely walked to the beat of her own drum, the girl was anything but oblivious. And so Elsa supposed she should've known that Anna would spot her shame oh so easily.

And not having any of the strength to deal with this anymore, Elsa lied lamely that, "I believe the King imported it to put in an exhibit. It's in here right now for safekeeping."

Then, and only then, did Elsa take her leave of Anna-under the guise of something stupid, as well-and she didn't see her again until the entire disaster with Prince Hans started.

...

**Shortly after the Events of the Film**

"And so I really think, Elsa," Anna said excitedly, twirling the pink beverage in her glass, without even a glance at it-much to Kristoff's amusement, it seemed, when she ended up splashing it all over Sven's face, and he ended up licking it from there greedily-"that we need to redecorate the entire castle: put the bad times in our lives behind us, and really begin anew."

Elsa smiled, and refrained from asking if this was all so that she could try to make curtains out of dresses again, or some other silly thing.

"I think that's a fine idea, Anna," Elsa easily conceded. "But-"

"Oh! But that ice crystal you made in the library-and that has stayed here all this time: yay for that drafty, cold room-and you temporarily freezing over Arendelle-which kept it from melting all this time, I guess-can stay. That way if we have kids over to be read to, and we're talking about stalagmites, we can show them what one is supposed to look like... kind of, anyway."

Struck by the turn the conversation had now taken, Elsa decided to take the initiative and to ask about the event that had been plaguing her mind for a long time.

Leaning her elbows on the table, so that she could be closer to Anna—and not be poised in the slightest, though right now she didn't really care—Elsa asked, "Hey, Anna… what do you think the chance are of someone having fall powers, kind of similar to my own?"

To Elsa's surprise, and horror, Kristoff laughed outright.

Anna, however, looked pensive and thoughtful.

And Sven… he shot Kristoff a look, whilst munching on some carrots.

But it was Kristoff's reaction that set Elsa off the most: something that Anna now seemed desperate to try and make up for.

"It's… definitely possible, isn't it? Or, maybe, anyway… But, Elsa, what brings this- Oh! Is that why you were asking me all those strange autumn questions years ago?!"

Elsa felt floored by this—though she really wasn't sure why—and nearly spilled her drink down her dress.

She was just  _so_ surprised that Anna remembered that day—that wonderful, yet also horrible day—just as clearly as she did.

Clearly, Anna had suffered more with their separation than Elsa had previously known.

And taking that into consideration, Elsa decided to file that information away for later use, and to maybe try and make up for it with a birthday celebration for Anna.

Now, she had more important things to worry about, however:

"Yes… I think I might've seen something around that time. It was… strange, and didn't seem to exactly be sentient. I don't really know how to explain it, exactly…"

And almost as if to prove this, Elsa quickly began examining the green plates before her, as if they alone might have her answer and next needed words.

"Uhh… not to criticize, your majesty," Kristoff began suddenly—but he instantly made a face as though he had swallowed something dreadful, in no doubt realizing the way he had started the sentence made it seem like that was  _exactly_  what he was doing. He continued on anyway:

"But are you sure you didn't just dream it up? I mean, with your powers, there were at least signs of it before they went out of control: you showed up to the rock trolls as a child, and all that. But what evidence is there at all of _fall_ magic? I haven't heard of any, I mean, and what would it even _do_?"

 _He loves Anna, he loves Anna… he helped to reunite us, and to save Arendelle as a whole_ , Elsa tried to remind herself, as she found that she was quite offended that Kristoff thought her imagination had cooked stuff up to starve off her loneliness.

Thankfully, it seemed as though Anna was on the queen's side, and she swiftly let this fact be known.

"Kristoff, honey," Anna replied, as she quickly stuffed some sandwiches into her mouth, before taking a swig of her drink and continuing. "I get where you're coming from: I really do. But Elsa isn't exactly Imagination Station. No offense, El! But you've just always been more logic based, with your geometry and all that, y'know?"

And Elsa  _did_ know, and though she really didn't want to get back onto subjects she'd had with Anna so long ago—like how she normally didn't find herself reading fictional tales that much—she did have to appreciate where her sister was going with it all.

"Anyway," Anna finished off, using her sub to point in a certain direction for emphasis. "If Elsa says something happened, it happened. Now what did you see, exactly, El?"

Very suddenly, Elsa found that she was beyond embarrassed. No doubt the two—three—gathered around her were going to expect her to regale them with some amazing story, but really…

Elsa didn't know much about what she'd seen at all. She also found that her mind was even beginning to go hazy on the details that  _had_ transpired that night.

Folding her fingers over her lap, and then beginning to play with them some in her uncertainty, Elsa began with what she knew. "There's not… there's really not much to tell, I don't think."

And at this moment one of the servants came back in to drop ice into all of their beverages; Elsa smiled at the woman gratefully—meanwhile, Kristoff looked at the substance as if it held the secret to life itself—and continued on where she'd left off at: all ready, Anna seemed to be eating the whole thing up.

"I uh… I used to sneak outside of the castle some at night. I always made sure to wait until everyone had gone to bed, so I wouldn't accidentally freeze them—if only I'd known then that love can melt back then, but anyway—one night I saw something strange. It was some sort of black cloak fluttering in the wind.

"I don't… I don't know if there was anyone or anything inside of it or not, but I remember fall leaves—and some flowers—floating all about it then. There also seemed to be a ball of pink light where its feet would've been. It- it went away, and that's all I know, really."

Elsa tried her best to play it off like it really didn't matter to her, and that she didn't care to know much more about it—and she even rolled her braid back into a bun, as she prepared to get back to her queenly duties of signing documents in a moment—but really…

She was determined that she was going to find out about this thing, whatever it was, even if it killed her.

And what else was interesting to Elsa? Kristoff was looking at her with a torn expression on his face—almost as though part of him wanted to jokingly reprimand her for having snuck out of the castle's perimeters when she'd been a girl, whilst another part felt bad for all she'd been isolated.

Elsa grinned. Maybe Kristoff wasn't as bad as she'd first been thinking after all. And really, Anna  _could've_  done a lot worse than him…

"That's an interesting story, Elsa!" Anna congratulated, oddly enough, as she began tearing at some of the holes in the tablecloth before her.

Was she going to try and make something out of  _that_ now, Elsa wondered?

It was really starting to seem that it was _she_ who held the love for geometry, and not the other way around, Elsa mused.

"Do you… do you think that maybe it was a  _result_  of someone's magic, instead of their usual magic itself, though?"

"What do you mean?" Elsa demanded, her eyebrows beginning to knit together, as her old suspicion—and dream—that it was all somehow Anna came back to her.

"Yeah, seriously: what do you mean, Anna?" Kristoff asked, leaning closer to his girlfriend's face—no doubt trying to gauge her response, Sven even doing much the same.

Suddenly self-conscious about all the attention she was getting, it seemed (what a strange thing to happen to someone as extroverted as Anna, Elsa reflected), Anna pulled back from everyone surrounding her, and stammered a bit: "W-w-well I don't know! I'm just ordinary—like stupid Hans said—but anyway: do you think the cloak could've been something like Marshmallow, or Olaf, instead of the castor themselves?

"Y'know… maybe Olaf actually would have an idea about some of this, and what it's like to be… Well, created alive. Let's go ask him!"

And so Anna hurried off, very much unlike her, while Kristoff and Elsa watched her warily, as she led them away.

She was starting to act… weird, Elsa acknowledged. Almost like she wasn't entirely in control of what was happening to her. Almost like she was sleepwalking.

Beside her, in the narrow hall they were going through—and nearly elbowing her to death in the process, Kristoff whispered into Elsa's ear— "Pink… it's strange to me that this ghost of yours, if it's fall, would have that kind of color on it. I mean, why not orange, brown, or red: more autumn-like colors?"

Elsa was about to respond with how she could oddly change the colors of things she made to be less winter-y—like maybe even a nice green, sometimes—when it hit her that maybe this person could do the same.

Anna… she had always liked pink, right?

And despite being a fall, hadn't she once said she wanted to stay away from those colors, and be closer to the ones that made her happy?

Maybe… maybe this person or thing was a lot like Anna, Elsa thought—nodding to Kristoff to try and show she thought she'd found something.

She was getting closer to the truth now, Elsa knew, and would it be what she thought it was when she got there, or wouldn't it?

…

"It was… it was you, wasn't it, Anna?" Elsa shocked herself by asking, as she and Kristoff made it into the girl's now very pink colored room.

Olaf, meanwhile, was seeming to try and create an ice patch on Anna's bed, so that the redhead could lie on it and not sweat to death in the summer heat.

Anna even smiled at Olaf for his efforts, Elsa noticed, though he seemed to be doing it all in his sleep. Huh…

"I don't… I don't know what you're talking about," Anna answered very unconvincingly, pressing her two index fingers together as she looked at anything and everything but the two humans who had entered her room.

Kristoff sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

Finally, as if deciding he'd had enough of this game, he strode up to Anna and placed an arm around her shoulder—drawing her into an embrace. "It's really fine if it was, Anna. And to be honest, the way Elsa said the being was pink… err—had pink on it—really speaks for itself, when compared with your room here. And if you  _do_  have powers, that'll help you two bond even more, so why would you want to hide them, anyway?"

 _Bless you, Kristoff!_ Elsa thought appreciatively, as she made the venture up to Anna herself.

She paused, though, upon wondering whether or not she should try and touch the girl with her cold skin or not.

Usually she knew that Anna was happy for any moments they could steal together, seeing as how they'd lost so many in the past, but right now… when she seemed to be confused about all things magic in general, Elsa didn't know.

And thus she opted to stand awkwardly beside Anna, with one arm held outwards, should the girl look up from her hands and decide she wanted more support.

"I don't know!" Anna finally announced, sounding very different from herself, as she drew her knees up under her chin and sat and moved to sit on her bed—both of her loved ones following her as she did so. "I guess… I guess I was never really sure what happened. I was gathering fabric for some time, but then the next day it was gone, and I… I had weird memories from a dream that seemed all too real. I never knew if I'd, personally, done anything or not, though.

"And it's… it's scary thinking I might can do things in my sleep! Where's the control there? What if- what if my unheard of powers end up making a ruckus, too?!"

So that was what this was all about, Elsa thought confused?

On one hand, she was very relieved to hear that Anna  _did_  think maybe she had much more in common with Elsa than they'd both thought in the past—how the queen wished that her parents were still alive, so she could ask if anyone in their family had ever experienced something like Anna was now—but on the other…

Since when had she become so fearful of magic? Had she not been the one who had barged into her palace of ice, explaining that they could handle it all together, Elsa remembered?

So then… had the ice magic actually scared her more than she had let on? Just what- just what was going on here?

"Babe," Kristoff reprimanded, as he pulled Anna closer to him, and even noogied her head the slightest bit: something that made Anna giggle as she was most often like to. "Why didn't you say anything before? You know I'll—and Elsa and Sven, too!—always be right behind you. We can go to Grand Pabbie, and-"

"I don't want to go to Grand Pabbie, though!" Anna was quick to retaliate, but the fact that she threw an arm around Elsa to bring her closer to her—something that Elsa blushed at: so she  _had_   been being silly in thinking Anna didn't want her near, huh?—somewhat diluted that affect. "I just feel like we've asked too much of him lately, is all."

Elsa found that she wanted to say that it would be best to find out about the powers now, before they led into a disaster later.

But upon remembering it had been in learning about her own brand of magic that had  _caused_  the prophecy to come true, she held her tongue.

Besides, she didn't completely disagree with Anna that they'd been asking the trolls for far too much lately.

Kristoff—perhaps seeing that this conversation wasn't going to go in the direction he wanted it to any time soon—stepped away from the two girls (but made sure to kiss Anna on the cheek once before he did so), and began examining some of Anna's old toys.

And when he picked up the "Babs Bunny" toy, Elsa especially had to laugh. When she'd spoken to Anna that one time, when she'd still been near an infant, Elsa had thought it was "Babs Bunny" she was trying to talk about.

But now she wondered if the "Ba" had been meant to be a "Fa" for "Fall". Could it have been that Anna had been self-consciously developing powers even back then?

Elsa desperately wanted to ask Anna about it, but she doubted she'd be able to remember that far back, anyway.

So reclining backwards on Anna's bed some herself, so that her back was laid flat against it, but her legs remained on the floor, Elsa tried to ask nonchalantly, "So what do you think you can do, Anna?"

And though the snow queen couldn't really see Kristoff from where he was—she did see him moving Babs the slightest bit, though—she imagined that he was probably now discreetly listening in, too.

To the question, Anna shrugged—surprisingly not freaking out like she had earlier, as she laid her head against Olaf: the snowman even going as far as to put his hand on her face as he did so—and said only a bit uncertainly. "Honestly? I'm not really even sure. From what you said, air magic might be a thing for me, maybe. But other than that, it seems I just steal my own things and throw them out a window?

"I don't know. It doesn't seem nearly as impressive as anything you can do, but then again… seeing as how I'm out cold when I seem to do these things, maybe that's a good thing."

"Y'know… I wonder, Anna, if you subconsciously started doing this stuff, because you maybe realized that Elsa's magic had you distanced, so you thought if you developed your own, it would remove the problem. The human mind is really impressive, I mean," Kristoff muttered, as he placed one of Bab's fabric arms to his temple to drive his point home.

Anna laughed again, and even bowed at Kristoff some for his kind words.

Elsa, meanwhile, tried not to worry that he might have gotten some lice onto the doll… She really was going to have to let him start bathing here on a regular basis…

"Is that even possible, though? I've heard all about adrenaline doing things, but Anna can't exactly be experiencing that when she's sleeping, can she?" Elsa mused aloud, mostly trying to get her thoughts off of bad things about her sister's boyfriend, while she began tickling Olaf some, who was now just beginning to stir.

Really, though, it seemed that attempting to tickle the snowman some was more affecting  _her_  skin and making it tingle, Elsa noticed. Perhaps it was because Olaf's temperature was so close to her own. Or-

Sitting up suddenly, and almost knocking Elsa off the side of the bed as she did so—her sister was good about catching her and keeping that from happening, though—Anna came forward with her new thought. "So maybe it's me trying to share your pangs, then! I mean, you suffered so much in your solitude, Elsa. It's only fair that I try to make up for that now, I think."

In the past, Elsa would have instantly argued that she was the true villain for everything that had happened, and that Anna shouldn't even be _entertaining_ such thoughts: that was why she was even now planning her a lavish birthday.

But in realizing that Anna was trying to say so very much with her words, and was trying to even moreso heal their relationship in her own way, Elsa just let the comment slide, and pulled her sister into a hug.

Kristoff, watching on embarrassedly, tried to decide whether or not this was the time to tell them both he'd bought them both chocolate, or not…

Later, the friends would come to realize—when asking Grand Pabbie about it—that Anna didn't have magic at all, and rather it only  _had_ been things gushing out of her window in the wind.

But for now this was enough, and the friends held onto their moment merrily…

Heedless to the knowledge that Anna's glowing blue eyes would later mean something different in the future.

**Author's Note:**

> To put it simply, yes: Anna does have power, despite what Grand Pabbie said. He doesn't know everything, after all.
> 
> I kind of hate denying it at the end, but I tried to make this story as canon as possible. And seeing as this is all before Frozen Fever, and Anna doesn't have powers in that, I had to make them temporarily think that she doesn't have them here.
> 
> …Yeah, this story is somewhat my idea for a Frozen sequel, that I might actually continue someday. However, I kind of hate the idea if giving Anna magic (as that's really, really cliché, and even something that even the developers considered doing at first), but it had to be done for this story, and I tried to keep it less like the norm here.
> 
> Anywho, this story is for my friend Liz's birthday, as I know she loves this movie, Disney, and this sistership to death:
> 
> Thus why I had to give Anna powers in this, as it was the one way she and Elsa could've kind of-unknowingly-interacted in the past while still keeping true to canon. IDK.
> 
> Also, this story very much snowballed. NOW it's my idea of a Frozen sequel, but originally it was me just attempting to write children. And then it was me trying to figure out what life must have been like for Elsa before the movie (which was absolutely HORRIBLE; I feel even WORSE for her now, as I know she didn't take any of the luxuries she did here in the actual movie), and then it evolved into this somehow.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed!:D
> 
> Especially you, Liz! I'm quite proud of this piece, honestly: it was a lot of fun to write a family story for once, I think.
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> -Shanna
> 
> P.S. I know that things like Babs Bunny, and Gone With the Wind, didn't exist during Frozen (or rather in that world at all, as Arendelle's a fictional place), but for the sake of this story, I thought I could just put in those small things and have it be okay.
> 
> Furthermore, I doubt they'd have ice in their drinks, either, but that was done more for comedy and irony sake. And for Kristoff's reaction to it. LOL.
> 
> I also know the characters most likely don't speak English, seeing as how Arendelle's based on Sweden. But to have the funny line in here, about child!Anna thinking Elsa doesn't speak English anymore, I had to have them speak that way. I feel like the punch line would have been lost, if I'd had Anna talking about how Elsa doesn't speak Swedish anymore, maybe. But anywho…


End file.
